Kempson in SARU development role

Former Springbok prop Robbie Kempson has been appointed as one of the new provincial academy managers, SA Rugby Union (Saru) announced on Friday.

SuperSport

Among the staff named to manage the academies in Boland, South Western Districts, Eastern Province and Border were former Currie Cup coaches Deon Davids and Johann Lerm.

“The majority of the players in the academies will be black and coloured players,” Saru chief executive Jurie Roux said in a statement.

The initiative will be funded by the National Lottery with the project receiving R35 million in its first year.

The academies are designed to develop more black and coloured Super Rugby and, potentially, Springbok players.

“We will identify the best young under-15 to under-18 schoolboy black talent in both traditional and non-traditional rugby schools and accelerate their development with specialist coaching and interventions, while fitting in with their school programme,” Roux said.

“The academies are planned to capitalise on scientific research, which shows that rugby talent can first be identified with confidence at 15 years of age.”

The academy managers and head coaches in each province had been involved in setting up the centres across the Cape.

Roux said a full-time residential academy system would be established in parallel for the best local under-19 to under-21 talent.